Connectedness

Networking is a term from systems theory. A system consists of separate parts, which are linked by cause-effect relationships and general and specific system properties together diverse. Metaphorically, therefore, one speaks of a " network of relationships ".

Description

Are known for example from ecology, the terms food chain and food web. In a food web different food chains are coupled together.

In sociology, a good " cross-linked " person has to quickly get a network of relationships with other persons, for example, in various organizations that help her, among others, information or assistance or to avoid crisis situations or to deal with. At work, the term career network in the art.

The term also is in the field of information technology is used, generally if the infrastructure between electronic devices, that is, the cabling is meant, for example, in computer networks.

In the field of computer science the discipline of Knowledge Management and Knowledge Engineering, in connection with which networking means the combination of fragments of knowledge to new ideas arises.

Relatively new is the networking approach in psychotherapy, both in terms of the causation of mental illness and the diagnostic efforts. This system was shown exemplarily in learning disorders of children.

Degree of crosslinking

To quantify connectivity of a system, different metrics can use. A context- free measure is, for example, the cluster coefficient from graph theory. However, the basic idea is always the same - the degree of crosslinking is calculated by dividing the number of interaction partners (the so-called degree ) and thus of any possible interactions set to the number of actual interactions in relationship.